區塊鏈資料索引：釋放 Web3 潛力的關鍵

區塊鏈資料索引平台是 Web3 產業中最重要但基本上不為人知的創新之一，有助於釋放開發人員的資源並顯著改善去中心化應用程式的使用者體驗。

Blockchain data indexing platforms are one of the most consequential, yet largely unknown innovations in the Web3 industry. These platforms help to free up developers’ resources and dramatically improve the user experience in decentralized applications (dApps). Yet the vast majority of Web3 users don’t have the first clue about what a Web3 data indexing platform is, or does, or why it’s so important.

區塊鏈資料索引平台是 Web3 產業中最重要但基本上不為人知的創新之一。這些平台有助於釋放開發人員的資源，並顯著改善去中心化應用程式（dApp）的使用者體驗。然而，絕大多數 Web3 使用者並不清楚 Web3 資料索引平台是什麼、做什麼，或為什麼它如此重要。

To understand the importance of indexing, it might be helpful to think back to the early days of Web1, when the only way to find something online was to manually type the IP address of the website you want to visit into the URL bar. That changed when Google came along and indexed the web for the first time with its now-eponymous search engine

要了解索引的重要性，回想一下 Web1 的早期可能會有所幫助，當時在線查找內容的唯一方法是在 URL 欄中手動輸入要訪問的網站的 IP 位址。當谷歌出現並首次透過其同名搜尋引擎對網路進行索引時，情況發生了變化

Now, indexing is going to have a similar impact in Web3 and the tangled web of blockchains that supports it.

現在，索引將在 Web3 和支援它的錯綜複雜的區塊鏈網路中產生類似的影響。

For developers, indexing is a godsend. Imagine you’re building a dApp and you need real-time access to blockchain data, user’s interactions and smart contract events. Finding all of this information on the blockchain, which stores data in a sequential way, is an extremely painstaking task.

對開發人員來說，索引是天賜之物。想像一下，您正在建立一個 dApp，並且需要即時存取區塊鏈資料、用戶互動和智慧合約事件。在以順序方式儲存資料的區塊鏈上找到所有這些資訊是一項極其艱鉅的任務。

The blockchain acts as a distributed database, serving as the backend of every dApp. It provides all of the data a smart contract needs to function, but the challenge lies in accessing this information. While searching for data within a specific block or an account is fairly simple, it quickly becomes much more complicated when developers need to aggregate data from multiple queries of single blocks

區塊鏈充當分散式資料庫，充當每個 dApp 的後端。它提供了智能合約運作所需的所有數據，但挑戰在於存取這些資訊。雖然在特定區塊或帳戶內搜尋資料相當簡單，但當開發人員需要聚合來自單一區塊的多個查詢的資料時，它很快就會變得更加複雜

The problem is the sequential nature of blockchain, where data is stored one block at a time. As the blockchain adds more and more data, it becomes longer, leaving the data within it scattered all over the place. It’s incredibly disorganized for anyone trying to search through that data and make sense of it, and so it takes a long time to retrieve that information. Yet the most advanced dApps of today require extremely large amounts of blockchain data processing logic and often need to do this for multiple chains at once.

問題在於區塊鏈的順序性，資料一次儲存一個區塊。隨著區塊鏈添加越來越多的數據，它變得越來越長，使得其中的數據分散在各處。對於任何試圖搜尋這些數據並理解它的人來說，它都是極其混亂的，因此需要很長時間才能檢索這些資訊。然而，當今最先進的 dApp 需要極其大量的區塊鏈資料處理邏輯，並且通常需要同時對多個鏈執行此操作。

This is where blockchain indexers such as The Graph and SQD play such an important role, helping to streamline the way on-chain information is categorized and indexed. They can be thought of as a specialist tools for developers, and they vastly simplify the process of building dApps. Just like the index of a book, a blockchain indexer makes it quick and easy for the user – in this case a smart contract or dApps – to find the information they’re looking for. Blockchain indexers help to make the process of querying, retrieving and utilizing on-cain data more efficient.

這就是 The Graph 和 SQD 等區塊鏈索引器發揮重要作用的地方，有助於簡化鏈上資訊的分類和索引方式。它們可以被認為是開發人員的專業工具，並且極大地簡化了建造 dApp 的過程。就像書籍的索引一樣，區塊鏈索引器使用戶（在本例中為智能合約或 dApp）可以快速輕鬆地找到他們正在尋找的資訊。區塊鏈索引器有助於提高查詢、檢索和利用 on-cain 資料的過程。

For developers, the beauty of a blockchain indexer is that they only have to define the data type and the relationships between them and specify how that information should be stored. The blockchain index will then create a customized GraphQL endpoint that presents the necessary information to their dApp. This solves all of the blockchain data retrieval and querying headaches for developers, leaving them with more time to focus on the actual functionality of their dApps – in other words, making them better.

對於開發人員來說，區塊鏈索引器的優點在於他們只需定義資料類型及其之間的關係，並指定如何儲存該資訊。然後，區塊鏈索引將創建一個客製化的 GraphQL 端點，向其 dApp 提供必要的資訊。這解決了開發人員面臨的所有區塊鏈資料檢索和查詢難題，讓他們有更多時間專注於 dApp 的實際功能，換句話說，讓它們變得更好。

Blockchain Indexing Benefits

區塊鏈索引的好處

Blockchain data indexers abstract away much of the complexity, they’re optimized for latency so they can access information in real-time, as it’s added to the blockchain, and they can retrieve historic data rapidly too.

區塊鏈數據索引器消除了大部分複雜性，它們針對延遲進行了優化，因此它們可以在資訊添加到區塊鏈時實時訪問信息，並且它們也可以快速檢索歷史數據。

The benefits for developers are myriad, helping to speed up dApp development lifecycles, increase the responsiveness of dApps, boost their reliability and provide a smooth user experience.

為開發人員帶來的好處是多方面的，有助於加快 dApp 開發生命週期、提高 dApp 的回應能力、提高其可靠性並提供流暢的使用者體驗。

For one thing, blockchain indexers are developer-friendly, abstracting away the complexity of coding logic that was previously required to query and retrieve blockchain data. They automate much of the process of indexing blockchain data, using templates and quickstart guides to help developers get started. Some of the newer indexers support familiar programming languages, such as TypeScript and JavaScript, meaning they’re easier for developers to get to grips with.

一方面，區塊鏈索引器對開發人員友好，消除了先前查詢和檢索區塊鏈資料所需的編碼邏輯的複雜性。他們自動化了區塊鏈資料索引的大部分過程，使用模板和快速入門指南來幫助開發人員入門。一些較新的索引器支援熟悉的程式語言，例如 TypeScript 和 JavaScript，這意味著開發人員更容易掌握它們。

Blockchain indexers support a high level of customization too, enabling developers to quickly and easily index application-specific data such as custom events from smart contract functions. At the same time, many also offer multi-chain support, meaning they provide developers with the ability to obtain and aggregate data from multiple chains and present it in a unified database table. This means dApps can quickly present unified information to users, without the developers needing to worry about using multiple APIs or subgraphs to access and manage the data from each chain.

區塊鏈索引器還支援高水準的自訂，使開發人員能夠快速輕鬆地索引特定於應用程式的數據，例如來自智慧合約功能的自訂事件。同時，許多也提供多鏈支持，這意味著它們為開發人員提供了從多個鏈中獲取和聚合資料並將其呈現在統一資料庫表中的能力。這意味著 dApp 可以快速向使用者呈現統一的訊息，而開發人員無需擔心使用多個 API 或子圖來存取和管理每個鏈的資料。

The Evolution Of Blockchain Indexers

區塊鏈索引器的演變

The very first blockchain indexer to make its mark on the Web3 industry was The Graph. As the first decentralized service of its kind, it gave developers free access to indexing capabilities, meaning they no longer had to pay a centralized service provider.

The Graph 是第一個在 Web3 產業中嶄露頭角的區塊鏈索引器。作為同類中的第一個去中心化服務，它使開發人員可以免費存取索引功能，這意味著他們不再需要向中心化服務提供者付費。

The Graph was once known as the “Google of Web3”, and provided an open data marketplace powered by the GRT token that any dApp could tap into. The Graph’s network unites numerous network participants, including data consumers, indexers who query data on their behalf, and the curators who manage the subgraphs

The Graph 曾被稱為“Web3 中的 Google”，提供了一個由 GRT 代幣支持的開放資料市場，任何 dApp 都可以利用。圖的網路結合了眾多網路參與者，包括資料消費者、代表他們查詢資料的索引器、管理子圖的管理者